Manly Men

Today, I discovered something about Isaac.

If you don't know Isaac very well, let me be the first to tell you that he is the type of person who loves asking for help. That may sound weird, but really, it's true. For example, he'll ask the guy at best buy "Ok, so will you tell me everything about this computer, just so I can understand it better." He loves involving people in a decision he's making, and I think he just loves to let others help him learn. Sometimes, it can even become a crutch for him because he has such a hard time just doing things on his own; he just likes others' input. But anyway, today... was a different story.

I don't know how many wives, girlfriends, or sisters out there are familiar with this place:

 But it is seriously like a different world. Upon walking through its doors a typical woman will find that every husky, working man is "just there to help if you need it" and every woman working there is annoyed by you. In the few times I've gone, I've learned to expect this, and honestly, I use it to my advantage sometimes. ("Hey there, Mr. Handsome, you wanna come over here and find me everything in the whole store that I need? *giggle*)

But today, no, today was a different story. Today I went with Isaac to Home Depot. Isaac is building some shelves in our laundry room for storage. He's been working on this project for a few weeks now, and it's kinda his baby.

And this afternoon he ascertained that we needed "just a few more things" to get these shelves up and running. I was already out and about with him, so I went along. I stayed in the background once we got to Home Depot, knowing that Isaac knew what he needed and where to find it. As we got to the isle, though, Isaac was unsure of something to do with the screws he needed. For 5 minutes he went back and forth, thinking through everything. Twice he was asked by a worker if he needed help, and he said no. I looked on in wonder. This was not the husband I knew!

Then it hit me.

In this magical man-world named Home Depot, no respectable man asks for help! Shouldn't knowledge about wood, tools, and screws just be inherent for the manliest men? *Insert manly grunt here*

I watched for a while, smiling inside (but definitely not outside, I couldn't let him see I was enjoying this) and eventually, I realized what I had to do. I walked up to a worker guy (across the isle, far enough away from Isaac to look like I was on my own). I smiled and sweetly asked "Hi, I just need a little help knowing what to do here, do you think you could help me?" To which the husky man with tattoos eagerly replied, "Of course!" All during the time that the man was helping me, Isaac stayed on the other side of the isle. I was kinda laughing inside at this point. He was being pretty adorable about the whole thing. But eventually we got what we needed and headed out.

So here's the ultimate discovery I made today. Home Depot changes people, and no one is exempt from this. Even my husband fell under the stereotypical spell of sheer "manliness," cast on every poor man the moment he walks through the Depot doors. Men become "manlier", and women... we just become "helpless", or so they think... (tell that to Mr. Husky!).

Overall, the trip was successful and he's finally gonna get those shelves done. And I'm still smiling just thinking about the whole thing.